Coronavirus news highlights: Karnataka reports 2,960 new Covid-19 cases, 35 deaths

India's coronavirus tally crossed 84 lakh while the death toll stood at 1.2 lakh with 670 fatalities in 24 hours. Over 77 lakh people have recovered from the disease in India so far with a recovery rate of 92.09 per cent — the highest in the world. Several European countries reported a record number of infections as the United Kingdom entered the second coronavirus lockdown starting November 5.

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Record spike of 7,178 new coronavirus cases in Delhi take tally to over 4.2 lakh; toll rises to 6,833 with 64 more deaths: authorities.

2,960 new Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, 35 deaths

The Covid-19 tally in Karnataka rose to 8.41 lakh and the toll to 11,347 on Friday with the addition of 2,960 cases and 35 deaths, the health department said.

There were 33,319 active cases in the state after the discharge of 2,701 patients following recovery. As of November 6 evening, cumulatively 8,41,889 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 11,347 deaths and 7,97,204 discharges, the department said in a bulletin

792 new coronavirus cases in Mumbai, 22 deaths

The tally of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai increased to 2,62,476 with 792 new cases being reported on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The death toll due to the pandemic in the city increased to 10,396 with 22 fresh fatalities, it said.

Notably, on the seventh consecutive day the city witnessed a one-day spike of less than 1,000 cases.

The city had reported 841 new cases and 25 deaths the day before.

Covid-19: 2,267 fresh cases, 21 more fatalities in Haryana

Haryana on Friday reported 2,267 fresh novel coronavirus cases that included the biggest single-day spike of 704 infections in Gurgaon district, according to the state health department's daily bulletin.

With these fresh cases, the state's total caseload increased to 1,78,413.

Haryana also reported 21 more Covid-19-related deaths, taking the toll in the state to 1,880, the bulletin said.

Italy reports daily record of 37,809 coronavirus cases, 446 deaths

Italy has registered 37,809 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Friday, the country's highest ever daily tally and up from 34,505 on Thursday.

The ministry also reported 446 Covid-related deaths, up from 445 the day before.

A total of 40,638 people have now died because of Covid-19 in Italy, which has registered some 862,681 coronavirus infections since the start of its outbreak.

Maharashtra's Nagpur records 332 new Covid-19 cases; nine more deaths

At least 332 persons tested positive for coronavirus, raising the caseload in Maharashtra's Nagpur district to 1,04,509 on Friday, an official said.

With nine more casualties reported during the day, the toll in the region reached 3,456, of which Nagpur city alone accounts for 2,444 deaths, the official said.

Besides this, 366 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recoveries to 97,498, he said.

Bengal registers record recovery of 4,283 Covid patients

West Bengal on Friday reported the highest single-day recovery of 4,283 Covid -19 patients, taking the total number of cured people to 3,54,732, the health department said in a bulletin.

The death toll mounted to 7,177 after 55 more people succumbed to the disease.

The bulletin said that 3,942 people tested positive for the infection pushing the tally to 3,97,466.

The number of active cases currently is 35,557.

Covid-19: 14 more deaths, 647 new cases in Punjab

Fourteen more deaths due to coronavirus were reported in Punjab, taking the death toll to 4,295 in the state, according to a medical bulletin issued on Friday.

The surfacing of 647 new cases took the infection tally to 1,36,481 in the state, it said.

Three deaths have taken place in Pathankot, two each in Hoshiarpur and Faridkot, one each in Jalandhar Kapurthala, Mansa, Muktsar and Tarn Taran, as per the bulletin.

778 new coronavirus cases in MP, 12 deaths, 856 recover

The Covid-19 caseload of Madhya Pradesh rose to 1,75,603 on Friday with 778 more people testing positive for the viral infection, a health official said.

With 12 new fatalities, the death toll reached 3,004, he added.

A total of 856 patients were discharged from hospitals since Thursday evening, taking the state's overall recovery count to 1,64,923.

Two Covid-19 patients each died in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Rajgarh, and one each in Sagar, Betul, Khandwa and Damoh districts, the official said.

Gujarat records 1,035 new Covid-19 cases, 1,321 recoveries

As many as 1,035 persons in Gujarat were found positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 1,78,633 on Friday, the state Health Department said.

During the same period, four patients died due to the infection, taking the toll to 3,751, said a release by the Health Department.

Also, 1,321 patients recovered during the day and discharged from hospitals, it said.

473 new Covid cases in Uttarakhand, 9 deaths

Nine more people died from the novel coronavirus in Uttarakhand, taking the toll to 1,056 on Friday, while the number of infections rose to 64,538 with 473 more cases, the Health Department said.

There are 3,736 active cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), while 59,227 people have recovered and 519 migrated, according to a health bulletin.

Rajasthan sees 11 more Covid-19 deaths, 1,797 new cases

Rajasthan recorded 11 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Friday, taking the death toll from the disease to 1,966 in the state, according to a health department bulletin.

The state also reported 1,797 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, bringing the infection count to 2,07,597. The number of active cases stands at 16,277 in the state.

According to the bulletin, 1,89,354 people have so far been discharged from hospitals in the state after recovering from the infection.

Air pollution may lead to faster spread of Covid-19 infections, officials tell parliamentary panel

Air pollution may lead to a faster spread of Covid-19 infections as it causes coughing and sneezing, government officials told a parliamentary panel on Friday, according to sources.

Top officials of the Union environment and health ministries and the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development to find a "permanent solution" to air pollution in the national capital and adjoining areas.

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Sweden registers 4,697 new Covid-19 cases, highest since start of pandemic

Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered 4,697 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, Health Agency statistics showed.

The increase compares with a high of 4,034 new daily cases recorded on Thursday. The Health Agency has said the peak during the spring probably ran many times higher but went unrecorded due to less testing at the time.

India's single-day Covid-19 recoveries exceed new cases continuously for last 5 weeks

India's single-day Covid-19 recoveries exceeded daily new infections successively for the last five weeks, while active cases are on a sustained decline and comprise only 6.19 per cent of the country's total caseload, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

Less than 50,000 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been reported in the country in a span of 24 hours, whereas the daily new recoveries have exceeded 54,000.

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Goa: Home-isolated patients to be monitored for 17 days now

The Goa government has decided to increase the period of monitoring of Covid-19 patients under home isolation from 10 days to 17 days.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told this reporters on Friday.

"Coronavirus-infected people in Goa are increasingly opting for home isolation. Therefore, the state health department has decided to increase the period of monitoring of the home-isolated patients from 10 days to 17 days," he said.

US study links air pollution to increased Covid-19 mortality, Indian experts say causal link not established

A new analysis of more than 3,000 counties in the US suggests that people with long-term exposure to PM 2.5 may be more likely to die from Covid-19, leading to increased concern about the trajectory of the disease and its fatality rate in parts of north India battling alarmingly high levels of air pollution.

Though worried as cases in the Indian capital and its suburbs spike, pulmonologists here said a causal link between fine particle pollutants (PM2.5) and Covid-19 mortality has not yet been established.

Anganwadi centres, schools, panchayat buildings to be used as Covid-19 vaccination sites

Anganwadi centres, schools, panchayat buildings and other such setups would be used extensively in addition to healthcare facilities as vaccination sites in the anti-coronavirus inoculation drive which would be monitored by the Union health ministry's digital platform and would involve sending SMSes and generating a QR code after each jab to track the beneficiaries.

According to a blueprint deliberated upon by an expert group, state governments would identify buildings which can be used as vaccination booths under the special Covid-19 immunisation programme that would run parallel to the existing Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

UK's first city-wide coronavirus testing kicks off

Liverpool on Friday began England's first city-wide trial of coronavirus testing in an attempt to prevent hospitals becoming overwhelmed during the country's second wave of the pandemic.

All of the northwestern city's 500,000 residents as well as people working there will be offered repeat tests, even if asymptomatic, under the pilot, which will initially run for two weeks.

Liverpool last month became the first region to enter the most severe tier of regional lockdown as it battled a spike in cases, followed by the nearby city of Manchester.

Aspirin to be tested as potential Covid-19 drug in UK study

Common anti-inflammatory medicine aspirin will now tested as a possible treatment for Covid-19 in one of the biggest UK trials looking into a range of potential treatments against the illness, the RECOVERY trial website said on Friday.

Poland reports record rise in daily coronavirus deaths

Poland reported a record 445 new coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, the health ministry said, as the healthcare system is facing shortages in hospital beds, equipment and medics.

The country also reported 27,086 new Covid-19 cases, close to the Thursday's record of 27,143.

The health ministry said that, as of Friday, Covid-19 patients occupied 19,479 hospital beds and were using 1,703 ventilators, out of an available 29,407 and 2,238 respectively.

Chhattisgarh starts preparation for Covid-19 vaccination drive

The Chhattisgarh government has initiated the process of creating a database of health workers from state-run and private health facilities for vaccination once an antidote for Covid-19 is available, an official said on Friday.

The exercise has been started following the Centres directive to states to constitute committees for coordination and overseeing Covid-19 vaccination drive, he said.

A State Task Force Committee has been constituted for inter-department coordination for the Covid-19 vaccination drive, he said

Austria reports 6,464 new daily coronavirus infections

Austria reported 6,464 new coronavirus infections within the last 24 hours, nearly a thousand cases fewer than Thursday's record number but still alarming, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said on Friday.

The number of deaths related to the virus was up 41 to 1,340, he said, adding the second wave was much stronger, more serious, more dynamic and more powerful than the first one in spring.

Karnataka will ban the use of firecrackers during Deepavali: CM Yediyurappa

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said the state government will be issuing an order banning the use of firecrackers during Deepavali, due to prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation.

"We have discussed it (cracker ban), we are taking a decision to ban the use of firecrackers during Deepavali..the government will soon be issuing an order to this effect," Yediyurappa said.

Philippines reports 2,092 new coronavirus cases, 52 deaths

The Philippine health ministry on Friday recorded 2,092 new coronavirus infections and 52 more deaths.The ministry said total confirmed cases have increased to 391,809 while deaths have reached 7,461, a fifth of those in the past month

A man wearing a facemask as a preventative measure against the Covid-19 walks along a street in New Delhi on November 6, 2020. Credit: AFP Photo

Malaysia's government will propose to raise by 20 billion ringgit ($4.84 billion) the ceiling of a newly established fund to deal with the coronavirus pandemic,

Indonesia reported 3,778 new coronavirus infections and 94 Covid-19 deaths on Friday, data from the country's health ministry showed.

Indonesia's totals of 429,574 cases and 14,442 deaths from the coronavirus are the highest in Southeast Asia.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said the state government will be issuing an order banning the use of firecrackers during Deepavali, due to prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation.

Over 500 Uttar Pradesh cops infected by Covid-19, 7 dead

Uttar Pradesh Police has begun training its personnel on how to deal with Covid-19 infected criminals, as 500 policemen have tested positive for the disease while seven have died so far in the state, a senior police official said.

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Novartis arthritis drug fails to help Covid-19 patients

Novartis's canakinumab failed to help Covid-19 patients survive without invasive ventilation compared with standard therapy, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday, dashing hopes the arthritis drug could be repurposed during the pandemic.

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More stimulus needed to help US economy: Fed's Jerome Powell

The trajectory of Covid-19 remains key to the US recovery and until it is eradicated, more emergency spending will be "essential" to support the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.

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Novel inhalable llama antibodies may help treat, prevent Covid-19: Study

Scientists have found a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful novel coronavirus antibody fragments from llamas, which they say could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat Covid-19.

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1,494 fresh Covid-19 cases reported in Odisha yesterday. The total number of positive cases in the state is 2,98,768 including 2,83,533 recoveries, 1,37,89 active cases and deaths 1,393: Odisha Health Department

A new analysis of more than 3,000 counties in the US has found that people with long-term exposure to fine-particle pollutants may be more likely to die from Covid-19, findings which may make policymakers reexamine the harms of air pollution and help reduce deaths during the pandemic.

Scientists have found a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful novel coronavirus antibody fragments from llamas, which they say could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat Covid-19.

Children produce weaker coronavirus antibodies, study finds

Children infected with the coronavirus produce weaker antibodies and fewer types of them than adults do, suggesting they clear their infection much faster, according to a new study published Thursday.

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Vietnam opts for containment over 'high risk' rush for costly Covid-19 vaccine

Vietnam will stick to its strategy of containing Covid-19 rather than rush to secure a supply of a vaccine that could be expensive and potentially risky, the head of the country's coronavirus task force said on Friday.

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Telangana recorded 1,602 new Covid-19 cases, 982 recoveries and 6 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the total number of cases to 2,47,284 including 2,26,646 recoveries, 1,366 deaths, and 19,272 active cases: State Health Department

Uttarakhand: 84 schools in 5 Blocks closed for 5 days after 80 teachers test positive for Covid-19, in Pauri District of Garhwal Division.

State Health Secy Amit Negi says, "District Magistrates of all 13 districts directed to conduct Covid-19 tests of on-duty school teachers."

17 US states report record increase in Covid-19 cases

Seventeen out of 50 US states reported record one-day increases in cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, a day after the country set a record with nearly 105,000 new infections reported on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally.

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Experts spar over ethical question: Should we be paid to get Covid-19 shots?

A suggestion by an ethics professor at a leading UK university that governments should pay citizens to get vaccinated against Covid-19 has sparked debate over whether such incentives are ethical, or dangerous, and would boost or limit uptake.

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Jharkhand has not reported any fresh Covid-19 fatality in the past 24 hours, even as 355 fresh cases pushed the tally to 1,03,543, a health department official said on Friday.

The coronavirus death toll remained at 894 in the state.

At least 14 more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, raising the tally in the Union Territory to 4,403, a health department official said on Friday.

Of the fresh cases, ten were detected during contact tracing, while four have travel history, he said.

India's death toll stands at 1,24,985 with new 670 fatalities.

A total of 54,157 recovered in the last 24 hours taking the recovery tally to 77,65,966.

India reports 47,638 new Covid-19 cases; tally crosses 84 lakh

In Covid-19 clampdown, China bars travellers from Britain, Belgium, India

China has barred non-Chinese travellers from Britain, Belgium, the Philippines and India, imposing some of the most stringent entry curbs of any country as global coronavirus cases surge.

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Govt quota Covid-19 beds elude migrants in Bengaluru

Visitors or migrants who test positive for Covid-19 in Bengaluru are unable to avail of government-funded treatment due to a peculiar bureaucratic requirement, which is forcing them to shell out huge amounts of money for treatment at private hospitals.

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ESPN to cut 300 jobs as Covid-19 hits sports broadcaster

ESPN said Thursday it was cutting some 300 jobs in response to turmoil in the sports world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The state govt is allowing schools to reopen but not permitting the yatra saying there is a fear of the second wave of Covid-19. If allowed we'll go ahead with the yatra, else it'll be an agitation: H Raja, Tamil Nadu BJP leader on party's 'Vetri Val Yatra', in Chennai

Covid-19 pandemic is the most catastrophic event after WWII: Shringla

OPINION | Threats to critical infra in post-Covid-19 world

Most well-managed governments and businesses have resilience strategies to navigate through non-traditional security threats like natural disasters, technological failures, and other disruptions. However, planning for a pandemic, especially one that threatens to stretch indefinitely, requires a different set of skills as well as certain continuity assumptions.

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OPINION | Covid-19 and climate change literacy

Nine-year-old, Manipuri activist, Licypriya Kangujam was detained by the police and ordered not to peacefully protest outside the Indian Parliament about air pollution in Delhi. Social media users were aghast and shocked at how officials treated the girl for spreading awareness and helping Delhi improve its air quality.

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India sees spike of over 50,000 Covid-19 cases after 10 days; 704 deaths in 24 hours

After 12 days, India’s fresh Covid-19 count crossed the 50,000-mark once again on Thursday riding high on the recent surges seen in Kerala and Delhi.

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Paris tightens screws on coronavirus lockdown

Paris will order food shops to close at 10:00 pm and outlaw nighttime food deliveries and alcohol sales, officials said Thursday, hoping to prevent crowds that have gathered at some restaurants and grocery stores despite a new coronavirus lockdown.

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Teacher training module has lessons on Covid-19

The online training imparted to teachers working with state government schools has a new subject this year following the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Swedish PM self-isolates as nation sees rising virus cases

Sweden's leader has gone into protective self-isolation even after a person close to him tested negative for Covid-19, as Sweden experiences its own fall surge of coronavirus cases.

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